The Grizzly has landed ...

[BadeMillsap]

... that is to say the Grizzly G1023SL is on the shop floor and operational.

I have to say "for the most part" I am ecstatic with the saw, the quality, the "heftiness" (quite a jump from my beloved BT3100) ... it is definitely a beast with power to spare ... I got it put together and on a HTC2000 mobile platform in about 4 hours ... and much of that 4 hours has been spent dealing with my one (so far) complaint with this saw ... the "splitter/guard" is as far as I can tell worthless ...

The saw comes with a massive "Shop Fox Classic" rip fence system very similar to the BIESEMEYER fence of world wide acclaim. The fence is easy to set up and easy to adjust ... but ... when the blade and the fence and the table are all in alignment ... (even slightly out allowing a little relief on the backside of the fence as suggested in the manual) ... the $%*&^&*((* splitter still causes a bind on the back side while ripping ... I have adjusted, cussed, adjusted some more .. cussed some more ... and ultimately removed the splitter/guard altogether so that I could at least get the saw in production.

Looking on the net I have seen several cases where people suggest replacing the splitter with "something" almost "anything" else/better. I am aware that Lee makes an aftermarket splitter for the 1023 series and I am aware of a fellow who is offering a "Bolt On Riving Knife" that looks interesting but I can't tell if that is in fact ready for prime time or not ...

Bottom line is I LIKE the saw ... I despise the splitter/guard.

I know a few others on this board have the same dark side saw and I wonder if you have experienced the same frustrations OR am I just totally inept at getting the darn thing set up correctly?

Thoughts or comments welcome ... I really am a bit of a safety nut around tools and don't feel all that good about using it without any kind of splitter/rk ... I wondered about the small clip in splitters that just sit behind the blade kinda like a little plastic wedge ... are they worth looking at?

Happy but frustrated ... (with a new saw I should ONLY be "Happy"!!)
Bade

[dbhost]

Is Grizzly decent enough to provide you with a 1-800 support number for this sort of setup question?

[LarryG]

One possibility, maybe ...

Is the splitter sized for a full-kerf blade, and you're using a thin-kerf?

[BadeMillsap]

Yes Griz does provide tech support and I'll be calling them

.. and I'm using a Forrest WW II blade with I believe a 1/8" kerf BUT I WILL CHECK THAT ... good thought! Thanks!

[RodKirby]

I feel your pain!

I threw away the OEM splitter and installed an MJ Splitter - does all I want it to - minimize the possibility of kickback -AND- is left on all the time. VERY easy to install (Obviously only for 90° cuts = for me 98% of the time)

Original



MJ Splitter http://www.microjig.com/MJ%20Splitter.htm

[dbhost]

I had never thought about the blade, because he said he just got the saw, and set it up. He didn't say a word that I noticed anyway about the thin kerf blade. Yeah, that would do it for sure... Splitters are designed to work with the OE blades. There are aftermarket splitters that are made for thin kerf blades for some saws... There may be one for your Grizz...

[BadeMillsap]

Well I DO have a 3/32" kerf blade so that might be the culprit ...

I will give that a chance once I get a 1/8" blade ... right now all I have are the 3/32" Forrest and the blade that came with the BT3100 which I believe is at least that thin maybe thinner ...

Regardless I believe I will be shopping for a "different" splitter or a RK ... but this afternoon I spent several LOVELY hours ripping 4x4 white oak with no splitter installed AND with no problem other than a little burn when my feed rate wasn't up to par ... this saw is a wood eatin' dude ...

Thanks for the replies ... and the pointer to the after market MJ ... I'm definitely in the market ...

Bade

[shoottx]

What! No pictures

[BobSch]

How about one of Lee's Shark Guards?

http://www.leestyron.com/sharkgriz.php

[atgcpaul]

I've had my 1023SLX for 2 years and still like it a lot. Just as nice as the PM66
or Unisaw I used in shop class.

In the first month of ownership, two set screws that hold the pulleys to the
arbor worked themselves loose and actually came out. I heard them fall inside
the cabinet and was lucky that I did not suck them up in my dust collection.
Reinstalling them was a pain and tech support's response was, well, it happens.
No pulley problems after that fix.

The arbor wrench sucks. It's very cheap stamped steel and the larger wrench
will warp if torquing the nut too hard. I'm on my second wrench where the
shipping was more than the wrench.

I don't mind the guard and I actually use it most of the time. I have a full
kerf blade, though.

Paul

[Knottscott]

A fellow woodworker named Bob Ross who spends time over on the Woodnet forum has developed a "Bolt On Ripping Knife" (BORK) that attaches to a few popular current tables. By all definitions that I'm aware of, it IS a riving knife that rises, falls, and tilts with the arbor, as opposed to a splitter that is either stationary, or only tilts with the arbor. I know that current versions fit several of the Grizzly 1023's and nearly identical Shop Fox cabinet saws. There's also one that fits the popular Craftsman "zipcode" hybrids (22124 and 22114), and the similar Steel City hybrids.

My "BORK" has been in operation in my new Shop Fox W1677 (a white Griz 1023SL) since August. In it's current configuration it's a simple installation that requires some dexterity to optimize, but once dialed in, the BORK works as promised. Mine was considered one of several other prototypes for testing, so I'm not certain how different current models are, but the components are simple. There's an arm that attaches to the top of the arbor swing arm with a custom U-bolt, and some proprietary hardware that holds the riving knife. It took some effort to extend the kerf of a phenolic ZCI, but once done, with the knife properly adjusted, it works quite well. The BORK can be adjusted for full or thin kerf. Some of the complications that Bob had to consider are other existing physical components of the saw that interfere with the full travel. The BORK's current design incorporates some flex around the these components. I'll post some pics below, and will try to send a PM to Bob to get him involved with the discussion because there will undoubtedly be questions for him.

[BadeMillsap]

Yeah the B.O.R.K. is probably a good choice ...

first I'm going to get a full kerf blade and try the Griz splitter again ... after dropping ~$1k on the saw/shipping ... I need to inhale a while before I spend another ~$125 or so on an add-on ...

Thanks for the follow-up!

Bade

[eddy merckx]

Here's a tip which helped me align the splitter on my Shopfox W1677:

The splitter bolts to a bracket which is itself bolted to the trunion just behind the throat plate opening. You can move the bracket for good alignment with the blade by loosening two bolts. The easiest thing to do is to put a strip of masking tape on the table top, in line with the splitter. Then scribe a line onto the tape , along the splitter. You can use the line as a reference to see how far the splitter bracket has to be moved over to get good alignment. You sort of wiggle the bracket until everything lines up. Make sure you check for square, then tighten everything up.

If you got the same splitter as I did, it will work fine with thin kerf blades. I had to chop off the anti-kickback fingers on mine. They were just too annoying and sharp.

I did eventually replace mine with a Shark Guard which I like much better. There is no reason why your splitter shouldn't work fine though, after you get it all lined up.

Eddy

[BadeMillsap]

1/8" kerf blade DOES help ...

I installed an Oldham 10040TP general purpose full kerf (1/8") blade on the saw and reinstalled and aligned the splitter ... MUCH better !!!

Cutting 4x4 rift sawn white oak was very clean, no burn marks and easy feed ... the only question mark in my mind is the amount of relief I had to put into the backside of the fence ... with the thin kerf blade it didn't matter how far I skewed the back side of the fence away from the blade it wouldn't feed ... with the wider kerf blade it feeds fine with a relief of about 3/32" of relief at the far backside edge of the fence .. but that is well over what the fence setup guide indicates (they show 1/64") and that wasn't enough to allow an "easy" feed.

I checked the cut for accuracy after I made the cut (with 3/32" relief) and it was dead on for the length of the board so I'm satisfied that the saw is cutting straight with this setup but that extra relief still tickles the depths of my mind as "not REALLY right..."

Close observation seems to indicate that the front leg of the splitter that sits down behind the blade and seats with one bolt forces the splitter head to the right of the blade (from the front side of the saw) ... just a little too far. They provide washers for spacing it MORE towards the right ... but that would exacerbate the problem ... with no spacer washers between the bracket and the splitter .. it's very very close to what I think would be perfect but just a hair too far to the right ... there is probably some exotic disassembly, move this thingy and re-assemble that I could do to get it right where I think it should be but for now I think I'm going to live with it a while and see if it holds as is ... EVERYTHING else on this saw is perfect as far as I am concerned ...

Bade

[LarryG]

...that extra relief still tickles the depths of my mind as "not REALLY right..."

No, it's not. That's approaching 1/8" and that's a HUGE amount for any tool to be deliberately out of alignment.

Have you checked the flatness (straightness) of your fence? If the face nearest the blade is not running parallel to the blade for its full length, it could be forcing the workpiece toward the blade, requiring you to use this excessive amount of relief at the back end to compensate.